Shiites Face Discrimination In Malaysia

Members of the Shiite community are facing discrimination in Malaysia.

The perception that Shiites are members of a “deviant sect” of Islam has lead to arrests, including that of 200 Shiites celebrating Ashura in December.

Non-Muslims are free to practice their faith in Malaysia. However Shiism was banned by a 1989 law and 1996 fatwa.

“Everyone in the country should have freedom of worship,” said head of the country’s largest inter-religious council Reverend Thomas Philips.

Members of the religious community disagree that Shiism is “deviant.”

“They follow almost all the tenets of the majority Sunni sect and the differences are more political and historical so we should engage them through dialogue rather than carry out raids, arrest and prosecute them,” head of rights group JUST Chandra Muzaffar said.

Kamil Zuhairi Aziz was one of the 200 Shiites arrested in December.

“Our future is very uncertain as we have lived here for centuries but now don’t know for how long we can exist like this on the periphery of society,” he said.

Liz Leslie is a journalist based in Bloomington, Indiana. As an associate Web producer for WFIU, Liz maintains the Muslim Voices Twitter and Facebook as well as writes for the blog. She also contributes to Earth Eats.More posts by this author »